The invention relates generally to a device which will flat stamp roll leaf onto a variety of substrates for the purpose of creating original works of art. Roll leaf material is used in a variety of applications, primarily by commercial artists and printers to apply or imprint on a surface usually a metallic material such as gold or silver. This leaf material is supplied in rolls and consists of multiple layers of material that have an adhesive backing which when heated will be activated. The primary layer in this material is a polyester carrier which is then covered with a lacquer color coat and a metalized layer and topped with a heat and pressure sensitive adhesive layer. These layers are extremely thin as is the resulting material which makes it somewhat difficult to handle and properly apply to the desired substrate.
There are a number of devices commercially available for flat-stamping roll leaf onto a variety of substrates, but these devices have been designed primarily to reproduce work by commercial artists and for use in industrial environments. As a result, the prior art devices are relatively complex and expensive. In addition, there are available small and rather unsophisticated devices that are not precision instruments and produce a product of an inferior quality.
Typically, the large commercial devices for hot-stamping roll leaf are large presses that weigh several thousand pounds and require specially trained operators. Even the smaller devices are not portable and are designed to be set in place. Although the smaller devices are easier to use, they generally cannot be used for an article larger than 12 inches in either dimension and usually are much smaller. For individual contemporary artists, this is an unacceptable limitation.
Moreover, one version of the smaller devices requires it to be used with a copy machine using powdered toner, thus limiting its use to those who have such a copier. Also, this particular printer is not capable of stamping leaf on top of leaf. Thus, an imperfectly stamped image cannot be corrected, and if more than one color is to be used on the same image, the leaf must be first manually cut and placed over the desired area. Because the metalized leaf is extremely thin and subject to static electricity, manually cutting the leaf accurately is almost impossible.
The only available device for use by a contemporary artist or a student attempting to learn art is a small electric hand tool resembling an ordinary paint roller. This tool has an aluminum roller covered with silicone, and the roller is heated and rolled back and forth over the leaf, which must be dispensed by hand from the roll on which it is provided. The leaf must cut by hand, usually with scissors, placed on the substrate and then rolled back and forth with the heated silicone roller while bringing adequate pressure to bear on the leaf to cause it to adhere. The operation is not only clumsy, it is tiresome and inaccurate and does not produce a product of the highest quality unless the user is extremely skilled. The particular device of this type that is commercially available also has a number of other inconvenient aspects to it which make it both difficult and frustrating to use.
It is therefore evident that the known, prior art devices for flat-stamping of roll leaf are not suitable for use by artists and students. There is therefore a need for a flat-stamping device of modest size, weight and costs which will satisfy the needs of artists and students who wish to incorporate hot-stamped roll leaf into their original prints. There is a need for such a device which can produce prints of a size larger than a few square inches, and one which can be used with a minimum of instruction and training, even by a person not normally skilled in using machinery.